Originally I did not intend to stay a long time in Australia. Just some days to visit Cape Tribulation from Cairns and my friends in Brisbane. Then cyclone Pam struck Vanuatu and especially the islands of Tanna and Efate. After I saw some pictures of the devastation and got some further information, I decided to reduce my planned stay in Vanuatu, concentrating on the not effected island of Santo and to spend more time in Australia. I rented a spaceship camper van as distances in Australia are huge and I wanted to have some flexibility making my way down from Cairns to Brisbane.
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Cairns as a City itself does not have much to offer but there are heaps of things that can be done around Cairns, including the Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree Rainforest or the Atherton Tableland. Accordingly the city is full of tour booking agencies and known as the backpacker capital of Australia.
It´s a beautiful scenery with amazing long, wide and empty beaches bordered by rainforest. Unfortunately swimming is not a good idea as saltwater crocs and equally deadly box jelly fish might be an unpleasant but possible encounter.
There are some nice boardwalks around in the area and it´s interesting to see the sharp diversion line, where the rainforest (relying on fresh water) ends and the mangroves (salt water) start.
The river is well known for it´s croc population and on a ship tour it does not take long to see a couple of them dozing on the river benches.
In 1996 I saw in a picture gallery in Cairns a beautiful, somehow dreamy looking picture of a perfect river in a rainforest. Learning it was taken at Mossmann Gorge I knew I have to go there. Well, it took some years to finally manage. I arrived early to avoid the masses and to use the soft morning light. I tried different settings and exposure times but did not manage to get a picture with a similar dreamy look. Knowing that the original picture was taken on analog film, meaning not digital enhanced an excellent shot. I faintly remember that the dreamy look of the picture was generated by shooting in moonlight with a very long exposure.
Australia is roughly the size of Europe with a population of just 24 Million people mostly inhabiting the coast. Accordingly the roads are long…..very long, and although sometimes with beautiful scenery often also without diversion and kinda boring if you travel alone, especially considering the low traffic and a speed limit of 100km/h wich is strictly enforced. Speeding is very expensive and tolerances are low, accordingly many locals rather stick to 90 km/h than 110 km/h. A challenge for Germans I have to admit ;-)
This took me completely by surprise. I came here cause I did not know what to do otherwise in the afternoon and was completely stunned by this place. Historic Village Herberton is a tin mining town with shops, pub, bank, chemist, grocer, printer and garage. More than 50 restored building with thousands of genuine antiques. It´s a photographers paradise.
This is a beautiful area of green hills, remaining pockets of rainforest, crater lakes and endless small waterfalls. The Milla Milla Falls are the most photographed falls in Australia but I liked the close by Zillie Falls even more as they were fare less busy with tourists.
Australia seems to be full of beautiful beaches and the coastline around Missions beach is a good example.
An Australien I met in Cape Tribulation highly recommended this place to me. The falls are the highest in Australia. I was a bit nervous when my Navi calculated a 3 hour drive for 60km having some serious bad road conditions in mind. But shortly after 1 hour and a steep, twisting but tarred road I arrived.
When I was last time sailing in the Whitsundays 1996 and did take some pictures of the famous Whitehaven Beach with my analog camera, I was disappointed at home to find out that the pictures where way to dark exposed due to the shiny white sand. It´s considered to be the whitest sand on earth. Armed with my digital camera this time I decided to give it another try and booked a 1 night cruise on a maxi racing yacht. This time the exposure was right but the weather bad with lots of clouds and even partial rain. Bad luck. At least the weather improved in the late afternoon and the sunset finally was perfect. Sailing, Dire Straits, dolphins and a pot of whales. When the sun was down hundreds of huge bats passed the boat just meters above the water level.
All the way from Cairns to Bundaberg is sugar cane country and accordingly Australia is one of the biggest exporter of sugar. The cane is transported from the fields via extensive railway lines directly to the mills. As it was middle in the harvesting period and the guide book mentioned and recommend two mills that are open for visitors I decided to give it a try. It was an amazing experience. Farleigh is an old mill and it looks exactly how you would expect an old production plant. Dark, dirty and everywhere steam and running old but somehow charming machinery. I was surprised that only 120 people are required to run the whole mill in 3 shifts. To be competitive on the world market the automatization level is very high. The guide was really knowledgable about the mill, a great 2 hour tour and highly recommended.
Hervey Bay is the hub to Frazer Island the famous sand island and a touristic hot spot. As my time was limited and I have been before on Frazer Island I skipped it and just had a short stop at Hervey Bay.
The area around Rainbow Beach, just opposite of Frazer Island, is well known for it´s sand dunes and nice beaches. With a 4WD it´s possible to drive along the beaches for a long distance. I decided to camp at Inskip Point where some campsites are also accessible for 2WD. A good choice.
Noosa is a posh place with a shopping street that looks like expected in those places. There is a nice beach and it´s well known for its good surf. All in all nothing that could me hold longer than 2 hours.
Locals will often emphasize, with a certain kind of pride, that almost everything in Australia can kill you. There are maneating crocs and sharks and masses of poisonous snakes, spiders, jelly fish, frogs, etc. Well, who now thinks it´s best not to leave the house be warned, the redback spider especially loves toilette seats. Nevertheless the locals are very relaxed with this situation and a snake in the house seems to be no reason to freak out at all, it just happens. Fortunately also some cute, harmless and very unique creatures call Australia their home.
The Glasshouse Mountains are a short and nice detour on the way to Brisbane. Some of them can be climbed but I preferred the lazy way and just drove to the lookout.
I went their with my Australien friends. It´s about a two hour drive from Brisbane and there are several sections of the NP. We went to a section called Natural Bridge with a beautiful subterranean Waterfall in a cave that is also the home for thousands of glowworms. Quite a spectacle after dark.
Brisbane is the fastest growing city in Australia. The good weather might be one reason. In winter time the temperature is just perfect (like a nice spring day in Germany) and in summer time the temperature is bearable. The city itself is nothing special and the architecture with a mix of old and very modern buildings does not really fit well together in my eyes.
© 2026 Beyond All Maps - Portraits of our Planet by Thorsten Mehret
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